Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Passover

12 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ² “This month will be the first month of the year for you. ³ Both of you are to tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb. It is for the people in his house. ⁴ There may not be enough people in his house to eat a whole lamb. Then he must share it with his closest neighbor. There must be enough lamb for everyone to eat. ⁵ The lamb must be a one-year-old male. It must have nothing wrong with it. This animal can be either a young sheep or a young goat. ⁶ Keep the animal with you to take care of it until the fourteenth day of the month. On that day all the people of the community of Israel will kill these animals. They will do this as soon as the sun goes down. ⁷ The people must take some of the blood. They must put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes. These are the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ On this night they must roast the lamb over a fire. Then they must eat it with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the lamb raw or boiled in water. Roast the whole lamb over a fire—with its head, legs and inner organs. ¹⁰ You must not leave any of it until morning. But if any of it is left over until morning, you must burn it with fire.

¹¹ “This is the way you must eat it: You must be fully dressed as if you were going on a trip. You must have your sandals on, and you must have your walking stick in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry. This is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “That night I will go through the land of Egypt. I will kill all the firstborn of animals and people in the land of Egypt. I will punish all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ But the blood will be a sign on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing terrible will hurt you when I punish the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “You are always to remember this day. Celebrate it with a feast to the Lord. Your descendants are to honor the Lord with this feast from now on.

Praise the God of Israel

Loving Others

⁸ Do not owe people anything. But you will always owe love to each other. The person who loves others has obeyed all the law. ⁹ The law says, “You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not want to take your neighbor’s things.”^[a] All these commands and all others are really only one rule: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love never hurts a neighbor. So loving is obeying all the law.

¹¹ I say this because we live in an important time. Yes, it is now time for you to wake up from your sleep. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The “night”^[c] is almost finished. The “day”^[d] is almost here. So we should stop doing things that belong to darkness and take up the weapons used for fighting in the light. ¹³ Let us live in a right way, as in the daytime. We should not have wild parties or get drunk. There should be no sexual immorality or evil conduct, no fighting or jealousy. ¹⁴ But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. Forget about satisfying your sinful self.

When a Person Sins Against You

¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you,^[a] go and tell him what he did wrong. Do this in private. If he listens to you, then you have helped him to be your brother again. ¹⁶ But if he refuses to listen, then go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’^{[b] 17} If he refuses to listen to them, then tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him as you would one who does not believe in God. Treat him as if he were a tax collector.

¹⁸ “I tell you the truth. The things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. The things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.

¹⁹ “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something, then you can pray for it. And the thing you ask for will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”